I was planning to title today’s blog, “Looking Down” and ponder the deep significance of all the dust on our floors; I even took a picture of it. But then I came to my senses and realized that anyone longing for silence, solitude and simplicity doesn’t want to read about my after Christmas cleaning. Maybe I’ll write about that on my lettinggoofstuff blog; maybe I wont. Instead I’ll share the “Looking Up” photographs from this morning’s walk.
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Botanical Garden of the Museum of Natural History Yesterday I walked twelve miles, resting for a while at the Botanical Garden of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence. Boboli Gardens Today so far, I’ve walked seven miles, which included these signs of spring at the Boboli Gardens. I took them especially for a few of my garden-loving friends. You might want to compare the same scenes that I took five weeks ago. I’m in awe of these early fall days with a tinge of yellow on the leaves. That’s the way it was on our drive south to Pennsylvania. Four days later, on the trip home, the yellow was more than a tinge; about half and half and that’s the way it is today as we ease into the September Equinox, which in Boston will occur tonight at 10:29. All over the world, night and day are exactly (well, pretty close to) the same length--12 hours each. Time seems to tread water and then get on with it’s days and nights. The leaves are dancing in the wind in similar fashion. Soon they will get on with their rhythm. The Explorers; A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success, Martin Dugard maps the stories of some of the explorers of the Victorian age of discovery, 1799-1922. Throughout the book, he weaves the account of the search for the source of the Nile as seen through the ventures of Jack Speke and Richard Francis Burton, and of their competition to claim to be first to discover its source. Each story is framed through the lens of seven traits that Dugard believes vital to those who take such daring challenges. He then goes on to posit that these traits are present in all of us who dare step out of the particular box that keeps us from our own explorations. “These seven traits are also vital to all of us, in the challenges we face each day, as tools to help us through our own wilderness wanderings.” Here they are: curiosity, hope, passion, courage, independence, self-discipline, and perseverance. Which resonate with you? Which can you claim? Which do you lack? Which one do you long for? It’s time to begin. In the next few days I’ll post about curiosity Another summer walk. Always the same, always different. I went out early while the trees still provided shade on large sections of the walkway. Most days I rotate among four different loops, each more or less four miles from home to home. A couple of weeks ago, as I walked up and down stairs and ascended or descended little slopes on my walks, I became conscious of one of my knees. “None, of that, Bobs.” My current life style counts on walking—at home, at the cottage, and in my travels. My diagnosis, weak quads; my prescription, exercise! My private little PT sessions didn’t take much in the way of exercise or time. On today’s walk I completely forgot about my knees. Simple-- but I’m aware that that isn’t always so for others, and perhaps some day it won’t be for me. My rule at the moment is to start with a simple solution, and to start early.
We have had various advice about our foster robin, the latest coming from the Audubon Society. So, we have put him back in the nest and my husband is feeding him hamburger and dog food, yes, dog food. Do you know how hard it is to find worms? Very. Maybe you fishermen know. It remains extremely silent around here now that the parents and siblings have departed. Silence offers many messages. This is the silence of abandonment. Nothing profound; just an observation. The atmosphere that permeates silence, solitude and simplicity differs from rainy day to sunny day. Yesterday was a rainy one. It was hard to settle into my writing; my body was slow; unspecified sadness snuck in. Today is a sunny one. I’m getting more done, moving faster, and not having to deal with mood. I can’t be more specific about any of this. I guess it’s just in the atmosphere. |
Contact me: bobbifisher.mac@mac.com
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